‘GOD IS IN THE DETAIL’

ALBERT EINSTEIN 1879-1955
Physicist, Musician, Thinker…and founding member and president of The Fluffy Slipper Appreciation Club!

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” Albert Einstein

I had a revelation the other day……….

I was working on a guitar post for this blog and I wanted to say how Weymann’s attention to detail was one of the characteristics of their instruments. What sprang to mind was the saying “The devil is in the detail”, but even though I’d used that saying in speech before I’d never really thought what it meant.

So I googled it and it means that “mistakes are usually made in the small details of a project and the saying is used as a caution to pay attention to avoid failure”. Not applicable.

But then I saw that this saying “The devil is in the detail” came from an older saying “God is in the Detail”. Maybe it’s because Australia is primarily an atheistic country that I’d never heard this saying before (is it more common in America?). Apparently the origin of both sayings is unknown.

The source was saying the meaning of “God is in the Detail” is that “attention paid to small things have big rewards, or that details are important”.

I have always been a ‘details’ person. My father would always say to me “If a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well!” and so I would always strive to do the best job I could whatever I was doing. Whether that was in dovetail joints in woodworking or, hopefully, putting this website together. “If a job is worth doing it’s worth doing well” is something my six children certainly got sick of hearing!

And when you think about it, doing a good job means paying attention to the details.

But my revelation was that we are all seeking perfection, because, even if we are not aware of it, we are all seeking to re-kindle our loving relationship with the perfect person – God, Krishna.

So it is easy to see God in something that is perfect. We can see God in the details that make something as perfect as can be in this material world whether it be a sunset, a rainforest, or a hummingbird…or something handcrafted that makes me say…”Wow – that is amazing!”

I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable Aum in the Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man. I am the original fragrance of the earth, and I am the heat in ﬁre. I am the life of all that lives, and I am the penances of all ascetics.“ BG 7: 8-9.

God is a person. We can relate to Him as a person. Lord Jesus relates to him as Abba, Father. Our relationship with Him is personal. My relationship with Him is personal. If we want to revive our relationship with the Supreme all it takes is a little effort.

One who loves God sees His presence everywhere they look. For me, never more so than in details, both animate and inanimate, “God is in the Detail”

Thanks for this. So much nicer than the ‘the devil is in the detail’.
And picking up on one of your details… not contradicting but it was something I was considering recently:
I was talking with a friend who was born and brought up in England and was surprised to hear that she considered Australia a very religious country compared to England! She said people in the UK may be officially calling themselves a particular type of Christian because of the family they were born in, but few people actually practice or go to church. She commented that she saw churches everywhere in Australia.
…I was interested in the comparison and did a quick search. it was true, however Australia was not far behind. In one Wikipedia list the United Kingdom ranked 6 lowest in the number of people who considered religion important in their daily life. It wasn’t a comprehensive list and Australia wasn’t even on that particular scale.
However in another Wikipedia list, in which people were questioned from the opposite angle, whether they considered themselves not a religious person, and/or a convinced atheist, the United Kingdom shows up with 66% of people polled saying yes, they are not religious, versus 58% in Australia.
In any case allegiance, or saying it is important in one’s life, is not the same as practice.
And as you can see, being a bit of a details girl myself, I like this idea, God is in the detail. I’ll remember that.

Indeed, many thanks for sharing, sweet soul. God is certainly in the details. In the big and in the small, He is always there. It’s this knowledge that keeps us afloat in this wild ocean of misery and confusion. Love it!
Btw–that hummingbird (is it?) photo is absolutely beautiful! Oooooo, the details! 😉

Hi Darek, Not sure I am ‘forcing’ Einstein into Vaishnava philosophy. I would say that the quote of Einstein’s that I used supports that he is an impersonalist.

There is a quote that is often attributed to Einstein:
“When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.”
But apparently there is no hard evidence that he ever did say this.

Vaishnava philosophy is that God has a personal and an impersonal aspect. For me seeing the perfection in details points to a perfect person who designed those details. I appreciate your comment and reading my post, thank you.

Thank you for the great article old friend. Something about detail from a slightly different approach by our Muslim brothers: I heard that apparently the topmost artisans involved in producing the exquisitely intricate and beautiful mosaic work would always purposefully make one error. The reason being that only Allah is all perfect and it is not for us to try and compete with Him. I always thought that was a pretty cool exercise in humility. Thank you for the website Chaitanya das.

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About Me

My name is Chaitanya das, my other name is Charles Robinson. I'm a Vaishnava Hindu living in Australia, and a student of Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda.

I have been dealing with advanced prostate cancer for almost 15 years and started this blog to document my journey with that disease. I also talk about how understanding that I am not this physical body affects my outlook on life......and death.

I'm hoping some of the things I've learned along the way will help others. I’m always willing to learn more so I welcome comments and dialogue.